Author: ana

about me

Categories
in china

“and the heart bears indentations”

* since i broke the news to friends and family, i’ve been discovering some interesting thoughts on how the west sees china. the best one-liner reaction to the news so far has been an unexpected “and you’re not afraid of losing any organs?”, which, though ironic, translates very well what i’m trying to say.

other curious remarks include strange food-related topics or fear of us being turned into slaves overnight. i hope this blog will help some people change their mind about the middle empire.

* i’ve packed my suitcase, which is enormous, but weights a mere 23kgs. can you imagine, moving your life to another continent and carrying only 23 kgs, 5 of which are from the suitcase itself? the essential survival kit includes coffee, lots of medicine from mom, summer clothes, my crocs and photos of friends. lots of them.

* this 7th/8th april marks a new life in many ways. a much wanted finantially independent life, but also one where i share my ground with the person i love and in which we get to decide our own future. together. :)

* how did mom and dad deal with all of this? very well. they’re being supportive and dealing with it all in a calm and rational way. most of the time, anyway. i’m quite proud of them. :)

the photo above is from theshanghaieye. more here.

Categories
in portugal

over the rainbow

fly me to the moon

now that the university is over and i hop intermitently between several places, without a regular routine, time has gained a strange anti-dimension. march was a non-existent month, i had trouble remembering the days of the week, what month it was even.

but with shanghai’s deadline on sight already, things seem to be fitting into place and more, i start paying more attention to things i know i probably won’t see in a while…
… lisboa, the light reflected on the buildings and on the imense water of the tejo river. lisboa makes the usual things sound special, the bica (coffee) and the pastel de belém (little custard cream tarts) with cinnamon…
… ermesinde, where i gathered a few friends for a sort of farewell dinner on the usual café, whose “francesinhas” (this dish i won’t even try to translate) i will surely miss. not as much as i will miss the smiles of the people around that table.


… celorico de basto, what we call “our village“, the place where most of my family lives. spring is in full swing now, trees and fields have a bright green shade, there are birds singing, the church bell rings.

… and braga, in my own house. the grass, the people on the streets, the flavours and scents on the cafés we’ve been to a thousand times before.

it’s hard to wrap up memories, but everything is more real and vivid on the eve of leaving. having been away of portugal for a while in the past, i realise how ridiculous it can be to say bye-bye, specially on this “online” era. life goes on, we soon forget the tears in the airport, months pass by and before we know it, we’re back to hug everybody, only to feel the eagerness to leave again, a week after that. it’s a cycle, hardwired to our “explorer minds” and difficult to explain.
my grandma says i’ve lost the “fear”, and now, nothing will hold me. i feel she’s right.

Categories
in china

one week left…

… and time seems to be running fast. i can’t hide the smile. shanghai looks… closer.


by theshanghaieye, on flickr.

Categories
in china music

we’ll have our own rickshaw cart

adventure movies come with a soundtrack. the opening tunes for ed harcourt and miss rita, who sent me and p. the song because it reminded her of us (thanks again!).

it’s called “Shanghai” and we hummmm it on a daily basis, it’s perfect. :)


Let’s move away together, go interplanetary
Maybe in Chinese weather, where it’s sanitary
I’ll go out trawler fishing, yeah we’ll have tuna steak
I’m on a special mission, for us to have a break

We’ll climb the corporate buildings
Spray-paint the outside walls
You bet that they’ll be yielding
When the castle falls
We’ll swim beneath the ocean

Near the coral reef I have a certain notion
That it will not be brief

We’re going to Shanghai
To watch the red sky
We’re moving to Shanghai
Goodbye, goodbye
We’re going to Shanghai
So don’t you cry

We’re moving to Shanghai

Looks like we might have made it
Put on your silkworm dress
You look so beautiful and I look such a mess
Across the city’s landscape, the sun burns crimson red
Maybe the moon will wait, before we go to bed

We’re going to Shanghai
To watch the red sky
We’re moving to Shanghai
Goodbye, goodbye
We’re going to Shanghai
So don’t you cry
We’re moving to Shanghai

Maybe, maybe we’ll have a fresh new start
I’ll learn the martial arts
We’ll have our own rickshaw cart
We’re moving to Shanghai…


(Shangai, Ed Harcourt)

Categories
in the netherlands

jelly good.

dear friends.
after six months here in portugal to wrap things up at the university, i am now, officially, an “engineer”. a pretty clueless one, career-wise, but i’m working on that bit. ideally, i would like to develop my designing skills, as i realize i still have a long way to go to get any good. i like information visualization and interface designing, but i want to explore a lot more before i choose what i really want to focus my attention on.

on a different (but related) subject, and since i’ve told it to my parents and most friends, i can give the rest of the internet the big news too: we’re moving to shanghai, me and p.
yes, shanghai. the biggest city in china, the 8th in the world, the “pearl of the orient”.
after my one year in the netherlands, and p’s 6+9 months in the netherlands and the usa, i think the “exploring bug” really got into us.
it just seems right. the right timing, the right city, the right person to hold my hand on the plane. and besides, if you don’t trust your intuition, what else do you have?

the details of the process of moving there include job hunting, a house, plane tickets and luggage allowance, visas and plenty other details that will keep us busy on the next few weeks. i’ll try to keep you posted. wish us luck! :)